Project Objectives

This project aims at:

• Providing means for the implementation of the Habitats and Birds Directive with respect to cetaceans and seabirds, creating cost-effective instruments for the analysis and interpretation of the evolution of their conservation status and their habitats.
• Elaborating the proposal of new Natura 2000 network offshore areas and their management plans with reference to Phocoena phocoena, Tursiops truncatus and Puffinus mauretanicus.
• Reducing the conflicts between fisheries and cetacean and seabird species by implementing solutions concerning by-catch and fish depredation, as well as understanding the complex relations between the exploitation of pelagic fishes and the conservation of protected species.
• Creating bridges of understanding, for example, through the awareness campaign and the creation of the stakeholders commission, among relevant authorities, scientists, fishermen, new marine industries (such as energy producers) and the general public in order to promote a higher consensus in the implementation of the marine Natura 2000 Network, bringing all stakeholders and economical interested parties into the process of designing, managing and monitoring future marine SACs.
• Ensuring the long-term socio-economic viability of the management, surveillance and monitoring activities of the target species and their habitats, together with the promotion of a sustainable exploitation of mn resources.